The Transformational CIO: Leadership and Innovation Strategies for IT Executives in a Rapidly Changing World

Do I Really Need an MBA?

Well, no. But it certainly helps. Many of the CIOs you will read about in the subsequent pages of this book have MBAs. One or two have law degrees. Some have advanced degrees in computer science, but increasingly they are the exception.

If you ask the executive recruiters quoted earlier to tell you what qualities they look for in a CIO, all of their answers would sound something like this:

The qualities we look for in a CIO are the exact same qualities we look for in any C-level executive.

The modern CIO is expected to be a well-rounded, well-educated, and highly sophisticated senior business executive who can represent the organization credibly and honorably in any sort of milieu, whether it's an investor conference or a charity ball.

Great CIOs prepare themselves by reading books on a multitude of subjects, by serving on various company committees, by participating in community activities, by joining local clubs and teams, by volunteering for international assignments, by rotating through different functional areas of the company, by taking advanced business courses, by writing books, articles, and blogs . . .

Does this sound like the description of a Renaissance man or Renaissance woman? Is there something wrong with the idea that the CIO should be more than just some kind of elevated technocrat?